Dundee village approves Dandy Mart plan

DUNDEE--Williams Oil and Propane Inc. will begin building a new Dandy Mart gas pump canopy and installing new fuel tanks after receiving approval from the Dundee planning board Tuesday, April 12. The canopy and tanks will be replacing the current ones, which will be removed after the new ones are installed. The planning board approved the measure following a public hearing held by the village board, which was attended by some 16 people.
James Gensel, president of Fagan Engineers, spoke about the project, which will tear down the existing canopy located at 45 and 53 Water St. and locate the new one to the south. This area was formerly occupied by a neighboring building that was demolished in 2013. Gensel noted they have been working on this project since 2013, but any action was tabled by the company until recently.
Gensel said this project will only impact the gas canopy and the fuel tanks at the site and will not impact the actual building. However, Mayor Fred Cratsley Jr. anticipates the building portion of the project will be brought before the village within the next 12 months.
"The initial work is to replace the fuel canopy and the fuel tanks," Gensel said. "[...]This is the first step, to replace the canopy. Later on, we will look at replacing the building itself."
Gensel said Dandy will often do renovation projects in chunks, adding the new tanks will be put in adjacent to the existing tanks before the old ones are decommissioned. He added the new pumps will also be up and ready to go before they start taking down the old canopy. This is to avoid any interruption of service at the site.
"They don't want to leave the store down for a period of time," Gensel said. "They want to try to keep this thing as smooth as possible."
Gensel said the new tanks will supply both gas and diesel at the site, noting there will not be a separate canopy for tractor trailers. He said eventually, they will come back to the village in order to construct a new building closer to the new canopy to the south.
Gensel said they plan to start construction as soon as possible, with Cratsley anticipating having the new pumps online by Memorial Day. Cratsley noted the village will be requiring Dandy to install six-inch curbing along the road on the northern section of the property upon project completion.
"We are going to try to square that intersection off and make it more pleasing," Cratsley said.
The mayor said in the future when work on the building starts, they will have it positioned so the doors are facing the gas pumps for security reasons.
"When you drive into any larger gas station, the front doors are facing the pumps," Cratsley said. "They are just not going to have it any other way. Dandy Mart, I feel very confident, has a plan that will be in place in the next 12 months or so for some form of getting the process started on the building. It is just ludicrous for any other business, especially the size of Dandy, for it to be any other way."